


The Will of the Broken

by Leona Galloway (EmberLioness)



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout 4
Genre: 10 years later, BAMF Women, Bisexual Female Character, Capital Wasteland, Comfort, Companionship, Coping Mechanisms, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Leaving Home, Mild Angst, Multi, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Lone Wanderer comes to the Commonwealth, bad memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:41:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberLioness/pseuds/Leona%20Galloway
Summary: After the Enclave’s defeat, Leona ensured Project Purity’s success, lived up to her father’s dream, and helped protect the land she had come to love. But the death of her comrades has left her wandering haplessly for a place without so many bad memories to call home. In her searching, she stumbles upon a land possibly more hostile than her own.War never changes. It was something her husband always said, and it was something Nora now knew all too well. Even after 210 years…When she stumbled from her Vault, grief still fresh in her heart, the last thing she expected to greet her was the barrel of a gun and a woman more broken than she was. Her heart was set on revenge, and revenge she would have. She just didn’t expect this stranger to be so willing to lend a hand.





	1. Despondency

After the Enclave’s defeat, Leona did her best to carry out her father’s wishes. She personally saw to Project Purity’s success and fought alongside the Brotherhood, even after Elder Lyons’ passing. Then Sarah died. She hated herself for not being at her side in that moment. Though Sarah would have it no other way, Leona lashed out at the news. She began hating the reminders of everyone she had lost and everything she had sacrificed. She had nearly killed herself for the wasteland and her people—had given it enough years to count on a single hand, but what had it done for her?

The people tolerated her, giving her a wide berth as though she were some sort of spectacle to the passerby. They would whisper to each other. Still so young, they would say, yet the wasteland had left her ruined. Turned her into the monster she never wanted to be. Molded her into a danger to herself and everyone around her. Destroyed what sweetness she had left. Once comparable to legend, and now a visibly damaged human being.

They’re in a better place, she’d think to herself. They’d want you to move on, she’d remind herself. It isn’t your fault, she’d say to herself. These were precious words meant to console those who couldn’t find their way in life. She’d spoken them to grieving settlers too many times to count, but they were lies meant to ease the guilt of living. She exhausted all of them on herself, and now she knew why they never seemed to work.

No complaint from the people she called friends reached her. Once she had made up her mind, she would stick to it. There were only two people who hadn’t treated her like a traitor. Amata was her oldest friend, but she knew what needed to be done. It was a teary goodbye, and when it was over Leona contemplated the validity of her decision. Then there was Three Dog. He said nothing, gave her no promises. No emotional goodbyes from him. Only a box of ammo, a ten millimeter, a spare Nuka-Cola, and a slap on the shoulder. It was enough to give her the strength she needed.

Turning her back on the Capital Wasteland was too easy. The memories would always linger, but the pain was fleeting as long as she kept moving. Loneliness was a weight she could bare, but it joined with the rest of her ailments. Physical pain numbed emotion. Aches and pains settled into her limbs more often than not, but still, she kept going.

She had once been dubbed the Lone Wanderer. Now the title sat on her tongue and filled her mouth with the sour taste of irony. Briefly, she wondered if she was doomed to roam forever, but she quickly dispelled these thoughts. The fear of regret catching up to her was too strong.

She never paused to make camp for long. She disliked comfort, and she was always antsy to be on the move again. Comfort was just a gateway to allow the creeping isolation to smother her. She’d wait for the storm to pass as she held onto her dog tags for dear life. The memories usually left her bereft as she struggled to regain her grip on reality.

Stray scavvers helped her replenish her stocks of food and ammo. She hardly knew why she bothered with the food. She didn’t eat much most days, and what she did eat she hardly tasted.

The only thing that made her look upon the Wasteland with fondness was its ability to provide good meat. She had yet to run across anything worth her while as she traveled. The occasional Yao Guai had the misfortune of stepping into her path, but that was still a rare occurrence. The only thing in plentiful supply was Radroach, and there were only so many ways to prepare it that didn’t taste like old feet.

It had been nearly two years of moving place to place until she heard a name she hadn’t heard since she left the Wasteland. _The Commonwealth_. She’d heard nothing but horror stories of the place, but it had been enough to pique her curiosity while she was fighting the good fight.

She had all but decided before she even knew which way to walk.


	2. Out of the Vault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was sure to be an odd partnership. Nothing openly stated, just mutual understanding.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept by the time she could see ramshackle houses in the distance. Relief should’ve been her reaction, but Leon could only find does at the thought of having to face the locals. They likely wouldn’t be overly fond of a stranger who was armed to the teeth.

As she came up a hill, she saw the remnants of a chain-linked fence. A quick survey of the area showed a handful of corpses and tin-roofed offices that surrounded a platform painted with Vault-Tec blue and yellow. The colors were enough to bring unwelcome memories that had her gritting her teeth and gripping her dog tags with a white-knuckled grip. An ache in her chest formed in the center of her chest, but the day was wearing on. Her eyes were gritty, and settlers were less trigger happy in the daytime.

She gave the platform a wide berth as she scrounged through the offices. Looting them was fast. Nearly everything was gone. 10mm ammo, even a pistol—which she took, even though she didn’t need it. Stimpaks, chems, and more things for trade. Good. If she could build a fast rapport with the locals, then she could be on her way with few troubles. It’s how it worked there, so the here wouldn’t be any different.

When she was done rummaging, she decided to make for the dilapidated houses. She passed the platform once more, refusing to acknowledge its existence. Her heart was in her throat at the sound of a mechanical whirring. Her gun was already aimed at the figure not yet in sight. Her pulse pounded heavy, her arms tensing to keep her gun steady.

Leona didn’t know what to expect when the person finally reached the top, but it was most definitely not this mess of a woman. She still shielded her eyes from the sun as she stumbled her way in a circle to take in the scenery. A gun in one hand, she ran her hands through her already disheveled hair. Leona was quick to take her vault suit into account, as well as the confusion that hung around her like a thick, frazzled cloud. Unintelligible words fumbled from her mouth before she noticed the gun trained on her.

The woman’s own 10mm was aimed at Leona with unsteady hands. She considered whether or not to try to defuse the situation, but she had grown used to shooting first. She hadn’t smooth-talked anyone since she had convinced President Eden to self-destruct.

“Wh-who are you? What’s going on? Where’s my son—where’s Shaun?” Her voice was hoarse, though not unpleasant. The more questions that poured from her mouth, the more they grew in conviction.

“Why don’t you lower that gun, and we can talk about this like civilized people?” Leona was really one to speak on being civilized. Her first instinct was to shoot.

The woman complied. Leona bit back the urge to scold her. “Now lower your gun too,” the woman countered. A fair request, but one that took her a lot of willpower. She settled for keeping it at the read but pointed at the ground.

“Who are you?” was her first question.

“Just a wanderer,” Leona replied evenly, “And you?” Not that she was more than vaguely curious, but the woman was compliant and polite. Why ruin that?

“Nora, I…” She sucked in a shuttering breath, running her hand over her forehead in a stressed motion, “What the hell is going on?“

“I don’t know what kind of chems they were pumping into you in that Vault, but I have no clue what you’re talking about. Nothing’s happened.” Leona sounded condescending, but considering how long it had been since she had spoken this much her caustic tone was natural.

“The bombs,” Nora stammered, “I watched them fall. Over there!” She pointed to a barren wasteland. Her face fell as she took in the destruction. Her mouth hung open as if she were trying to speak.

Leona’s brows came together as her eyes narrowed, “Have chems addled your brain?”

“Chems?” She gave Leona a heartbreakingly confused look. It left her feeling awkward under her scrutiny.

“Yeah. Jet. Psycho. Mind-altering stuff,” Leona said slowly.

“I’m not on drugs…” Her protests dropped off as she stared into the distance behind the shorter woman. “My home…it’s…it can’t be…what’s going on?”

Leona followed her gaze to the destroyed neighborhood in the distance. “Your home? I think you’re confused.”

“I-I need to go home,” the woman, Nora said suddenly. Her footfalls were heavy, but her stride carried purpose as she set off down the hill.

“Hey. Wait! You don’t know what’s down there,” Leona protested.

“I have to. I need to find my son.” She didn’t slow her pace, even as she spoke.

Leona felt a protective itch. She chalked it up to her years in the Brotherhood of Steel. Nora was the type of citizen she was trained to protect. This woman radiated naivety. She reminded her of someone from home, and the vault suit didn’t help.

Against her better judgment, she followed after her.

“You could be headed right into danger.” But her argument fell on deaf ears.

Nora didn’t care. She was a woman on a mission. A foolhardy mission that Leona had still yet to decipher, but a mission none-the-less. Deep down, she could respect that, but it didn’t mean that she was willing to stupidly launch herself into so many unknowns.

With little prompting, Leona managed to coax a hurried explanation from the brunette. Getting ready with her husband. The bombs falling. Her family’s bold for the nearby vault. Being tricked into a cryogenic chamber. And worst of all, her husband’s murder and the kidnapping of her infant son. Though she wouldn’t put it past Vault-Tec to freeze unwitting vault dwellers, she tried to smother the grains of truth with her theory of heavy chem usage.

Approaching the neighborhood, Nora let out a soft gasp as she took everything in. The houses, some yellow, some blue, were much more run-down than they appeared to be at a distance. Some, though riddled with holes, were still somewhat intact. Others were collapsed entirely.

The woman leading the charge seemed to know where she was going, so Leona watched her back. Her gun trained on anything she perceived as moving. By this point, she had switched to her gauss rifle, knowing that if anything bigger than a radroach came at them, they would need something that packed more punch.

A familiar whisper of robotic sounds touched Leona’s ears. Immediately, she aimed in the bot’s direction. She had enough experience with the Mr. Handy model to last a lifetime. She would make quick work of it, and she wouldn’t miss.

“Codsworth?” Nora’s exclamation almost made her pull the trigger in surprise. She turned to glower at her.

“Who,” Leona barked.

“Our—my Mr. Handy.” With stumbling legs, Nora’s initial job turned into a full sprint.

“Mum?” The bot had one of those old world male, posh accents that made her wrinkle her nose. Leona thought they were tacky, but she was well aware of being alone in that opinion. Still, she followed in pursuit, her rifle still aimed at the rust bucket—which was a surprisingly apt name on closer inspection.

“As I live and breathe…It’s—it’s really you!” Nora’s laugh of delight was punctuated with a sniffle as she threw her arms around the floating bot.

“What happened to the world?” Nora pulled back as Leona approached cautiously, her voice thick with emotion. She kept her distance from the display of emotion, averting her eyes.

While they spoke, Leona glanced around the neighborhood, which looked largely abandoned. No settlers. Simple enough. She caught a glimpse of a sign around the bend that read Sanctuary Hills. In the distance, she heard the bot say something about geraniums and envy. She threw a furrow-browed look at their direction. What the hell?

That one comment was enough to carry her back to the conversation at hand.

“I’m afraid things have been dreadfully dull around here.” Nora said nothing but looked like she wanted to. “Things will be so much more exciting with you and the mister back!” The bot turned to Leona and stopped, “Wait, where is your better half?”

Nora twisted a silver band around her ring finger, “Nate’s…in a better place.” Her voice wavered as she blinked away unmistakable tears. Leona frowned, feeling that it was not her place to witness this, and turned away. The heartbreak on the crazy woman’s face was too familiar to fake. A hollow ache resounded through her chest.

“These…are horrible things that you’re saying, mum. I…I believe you need a distraction. Yes! A distraction to calm this dire mood.” Nora said nothing in reply, closing her eyes in a gesture that Leona recognized.

“It’s been ages since we had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad…with you?” The bot’s jovial laugh twisted her gut, and Leona’s trigger finger itched as she took in Nora’s crumbling face.

“He’s gone,” She managed to choke out, “Goddamn it. Someone took him. Someone stole my baby boy!” They were angry, strangled, and half whispered. Yet, it was the bot’s next words that nearly made the red-head reduce him to scrap.

“It’s worse than I thought…you’re suffering from…hunger-induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two-hundred years will do that, I’m afraid.”

“Two-hundred years…that can’t be right.”

“A bit over two-hundred and ten actually, mum. Give or take the Earth’s rotation and some minor dings to the ole’ chronometer. That makes you…two centuries late for dinner!” Codsworth let out a self-indulgent laugh, “perhaps I can whip you and your silent…and rather angry looking friend here up a snack? You must be famished.”

Nora looked to Leona who pointed her rifle to the ground. Nora’s brown eyes were vivid with emotion, her face half agonized. The brunette turned back to the bot after giving her an apologetic look that left a sour taste in her mouth.

“Codsworth, you’re acting…weird. What’s wrong?” Her words were slow and measured.

Leona had never seen a robot have an emotional breakdown, but damn was it a sight. Almost comical enough to pull a genuine laugh from her, one she stifled for her temporary companion’s sake.

“It’s been horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve. I spend the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets nuclear fallout out of vinyl wood. Nothing!” He made sounds that imitated sobbing, “and don’t get me started about the futility of dusting a collapsed house. And the car! The car! How do you polish rust?”

“Can you tell me what happened?” Her voice was as gentle and soft as silk. If Leona were the swooning type, she might have.

“I’m afraid I don’t know, mum. You all left in such a hurry. I thought for certain you and your family were…dead. Oh! Wait!” He whooshed off into the house in a hurry and brought out a nearly pristine holotape. “I found this. I believe the mister was going to present it to you.”

“What’s on it?” Her voice was quiet as she took the orange cartridge.

“I believe it to be a private message for you. My etiquette protocols would not permit me to play it for myself. Any standard holotape reading device should be able to play it back. Oh! Like that Pip-boy on your arm—or hers. Wait…were the two of you in the vault together?”

Leona’s surprise mirrored Nora’s. She hadn’t fiddled with the old thing in so long that she had forgotten that she still wore it. Its weight made her wrist abnormally heavy.

“N-no, Codsworth. We just met,” Nora said slowly, her thumb stroking the cartridge in slow circles.

“I see…all right, enough feeling sorry for myself. Shall we search the neighborhood together? You said Shaun was taken. He may turn up yet.”

They killed a radroach or two and a giant mosquito—something Leona had never seen before. She paused for a moment to prod it with her boot curiously before moving along. When they had finished surveying the neighborhood, Codsworth pointed them in the direction of Concord just up the road.

And it was that direction they chose to trek. Though Leona’s every instinct told her to go separate ways, she couldn’t bring herself to leave Nora’s side. Maybe it was the fact that she had a deep distrust of walking into cities. They were usually crawling with raiders or super mutants, ready to kill unlucky settlers who wandered too far into their territory. Until she was sure that Nora could handle herself in a combat situation, she was stuck with her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter has been rewritten. If you're new, just don't think too much about it. If you're not, then I'd suggest you reread it.


	3. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unlikely companionship is usually the best.

Nora didn’t seem to complain. In fact, she had been nothing but pleasant to Leona even as they strolled out of the neighborhood. After dancing around a few of the woman’s questions, she spotted something that made her nose wrinkle.

Leona stopped short at the start of the bridge. She grimaced down at the dead man and the dead hound stuck to the ground by a particularly large crowbar. Nora gasped in horror, insisting that they do something with the body. The red-head didn’t bother arguing that it was unsanitary since she hadn’t bathed in longer than she could remember. Together they buried both bodies under rocks near the river bank.

Leona pulled some purified water from her bag. It was all she had left, but it would due to clean them off. It was safer than using the river water. This place wasn’t like the Capital Wasteland where they could practically drink from the bay. No, rads here could probably mess them up.

She let Nora get the blood off of her hands first, who gave her thanks. Leona nodded and rinsed her hands. It was a large bottle, so there was still enough left to make it until she reached a settlement.

She replaced it in her knapsack, and they started in the direction of Concord again. The bridge was partly collapsed, but it held their weight just fine. Off in the distance, something moved that made Leona look through the scope of her rifle. The figure was decently sized, with black and brown fur. She stopped Nora with a flourish of her hand.

“Wh-what is it? What’s there?”

“A dog…I think.”

“A dog? Maybe it’s friendly-‘

“Most of the mongrels that roam aren’t friendly. I can count on my hands the number of mutts that haven’t tried to rip out my jugular.” She noted the color fading from Nora’s cheeks and added, “But none of them had fur…just be on your guard.”

As they approached, the dog—which Leona recognized to be a German shepherd—sat patiently, its tail wagging. Its head cocked to the side when they were only ten feet from it. It let out a soft whine and barked expectantly. The beast reminded her of a dog she met once. It ran around Megaton, and though it like Leona the most and slept on her porch, everyone fed him.

“Hi there,” Nora cooed, “Aren’t you a handsome doggy.” Leona didn’t stop her when she moved to pet it. When it didn’t snap at her hand, Leona knew the beast was tamed.

“Are you lost, buddy?” Nora continued to croon to the dog as Leona looked around. There was a good deal of scrap lying around, and there even appeared to have been a person here at one point.

Leona stepped inside, leaving Nora with the dog to explore the inside of the station. These things were less common than Super-duper Mart where she came from, but there were a few adding a dot of red to the otherwise brown landscape. She wondered briefly if they were more common here, especially since Nora didn’t seem surprised to see one.

Inside, Leona found a garage with workstations still in working order. Down the hall and around the corner, she found a back office with an interesting find. A terminal sat on a rusting metal desk. It wasn’t as dusty as some of the ones she had salvaged in the past, but it had probably been a few weeks or more since it had been used last.

She was thankful that it didn’t require hacking. Her skills were rusty from disuse. She checked all of the logs, finding that this computer had once been used as a checkpoint for a scavenger. The last record was dated for nearly two weeks prior. She thought back to the body they had found on the bridge. It smelled like it was a week or more old, so that might have been the scavenger.

She had only a few moments to look over the logs before she heard her female companion’s voice, “Miss wanderer…?”

The name made her stiffen with displeasure, “Leona,” she corrected.

“Oh, what a pretty name,” Nora said, poking her head through the door, “Is that a computer?”

“Yup,” she replied, “It looked like it had been used recently so I was curious. Scavenger logs. That’s all. We can go.”

She stood and brushed past her partner and the fluffy companion at her heels. The dog followed Leona back outside, Nora on their heels. A low growl beside her made Leona ready her rifle, adrenaline forming a pounding rhythm in her veins.

“What’s wrong-“ Leona silenced her with a shushing sound. She listened for what put the dog on edge when she heard it. There was a subtle sound of scraping dirt and faster than the creature could fully break the surface, it was dead with a resounding blast of energy.

“What the hell is that?” Nora stepped closer to inspect it, but Leona stopped her.

“Where there’s one, there’s more. Mole rats move in packs.” And come they did. Between the three of them, they managed to kill five. No more came, for which Leona was grateful.

“Those are mole rats?” Nora frowned at the beast nearly the size of a large cat.

“You say you’re pre-war?” Nora nodded, “Then you’ll see a lot of things that have changed since the bombs dropped. Now come one, we don’t want to lose daylight. We’ve already wasted too much time here.”

“B-but…okay,” Nora conceded.

They started down the road, followed by the friendly dog at their heels.

 

Concord wasn’t hard to find. Gunfire made them both jump with a start, and their once brisk walking pace turned into a sprint. They had to slow as they got closer on account of Nora’s sputtering cough. A few awkward pats to the back later and she was fine. 

Leona glanced around at all of the pre-war war memorabilia. This was definitely a patriotic city. American flags were everywhere the closer they got to a town hall, which they were only streets from. And the closer they got, the louder the shooting. They could hear shouting in the distance.

“Get in there! There’s only five of ‘em!” Leona peeked around a corner and saw leather clad bastards shooting at the balcony of the historical building.

“Who’re they?” Nora’s whisper was at her side.

“They’re called raiders. Nasty pieces of shit that roam the wasteland, taking and killing whatever and whoever they want.” Leona used her scope to see what they were shooting at. Poking his head up to occasionally shoot at the raiders below was a black man with some sort of cobbled together musket.

“And it looks like there’s a civilian inside,” Leona sighed. That complicated things.

“We have to help them,” Nora said suddenly. Her gun at the ready, she hopped out into the open, shooting the nearest raider. 

There were sounds of surprise and shouts to the other. Leona cursed to herself, stepping around the corner and into a doorway for cover before she took a sweeping glance of the street. There were at least six, including the one now shooting at her partner. There was an unmistakable sound of a man crying out before he hit the ground before Leona dragged Nora across the threshold.

“Don’t just charge onto a battlefield like that,” Leona snapped, “If you hadn’t taken them by surprise, they would’ve filled you with holes.”

“Sorry, I just…had to do something. He’s in danger-“

“Then wait on my mark-“ Leona fell silent when she heard voices nearby.

“Where’d that bitch go?” The voice was female.

“Only assholes hide,” a male coaxed.

Leona pulled her knife from a strap on her bag, whispered for Nora to hide behind something. Her companion hid behind a shelf, the dog sitting tensely at Nora’s feet. The sound of heavy footsteps was just outside the door, pausing.

“I think I saw her duck in here,” the man said. He stepped through the door gun first, missing Leona in his haste. His mistake earned him a slit throat. His sudden gurgle of warning made the female let out a sound of surprise, rounding on her in time to catch a knife to the side of the neck. Leona pulled the knife out and let her fall to the ground.

“Holy shit,” Nora breathed, peeking out at her, pale and frightened, “that was ruthless.”

“They would’ve done the same to us given a chance,” Leona stated, flicking the blood from her blade.

“That guy was practically a foot taller, how…”

“Height doesn’t matter when you still have the element of surprise.” Her assurances still didn’t put any color in her partner’s cheeks. “Why’re you getting so squeamish now? I watched you drop a guy a minute ago.”

“Yeah, b-but that was at a distance…with a gun…not a combat knife!”

“Fair enough,” Leona said, only half-interested in anything else Nora said from that point. She felt around the raiders, pulling useful things from their bodies like armor or pouches with extra ammo. A few of them had caps, which the red-head pocketed.

The armor…she glanced up at Nora, stroking the dog as he nosed her hand to provide comfort to the shaken woman. She stood and held it up to the taller woman’s body. She nodded. They’d work.

“What are you-“

“They won’t stop bullets, but they’ll provide a small amount of coverage.” She took the shoulder guard and fastened it so that it covered Nora’s heart. She took a moment to outfit her with other stray pieces as well. By the time she was done, Nora wore a chest piece and two leg guards, “Can you still move under that?”

Nora nodded, “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Nora began to protest, but the sound of more voices silenced her.

“Where did those two fucktards go,” an unpleasant male voice growled.

“They were dealing with some asshole who came up on us from behind,” another female answered, this one as gravelly as the male’s.

Her rifle trained on the door, she shot the moment she saw a figure in the doorway. The woman, who had a dirty face and filthy brown hair, was now missing a chunk from her forehead. Nora made a sound akin to a whimper as the man rounded the corner.

“What the fuck-“ before he could finish his sentence, he too crumpled to the floor in a pile atop the female. Leona didn’t bother doing anything but a glance over. Finding nothing at first glance, she peeked out to see two raiders still shooting at the man taking cover.

“We have to help him,” Nora insisted.

“Planned on it,” Leona grunted, “You prepared to follow my lead? I can’t have you freezing up out there.” After an affirming nod, Leona didn’t wait for Nora to follow.

One of them had already crumpled to the ground after a well placed shot to the back of his head. The other rounded on the shooter. Nora’s shots barely missed him, and the dogs barking was enough to throw him off balance. Leona took the shot, blowing off a significant portion of his face in the process.

“Take a deep breath and let it go slowly,” Leona suggested, “it makes it easier to aim.”

“Nate told me that once,” Nora replied with misty eyes. 

To avoid the heat rising to her cheeks, she took a look to be sure no reinforcements were on the way. None were in view, so she took a moment to scour over the dead raiders. It was silent for a moment before she a pleasant, male voice.

“Hey! If you’re here to help, take the laser musket. We’re stuck up here on the second floor. We’ve barricaded ourselves in. Please, there are civilians.”

“We have to-“

“As I said, I already planned on it,” Leona replied. 

She let Nora take the musket in question. Her rifle was modded and well taken care of. She couldn’t say the same for the stranger’s gun. She didn’t stop to loot anything else, and as they got closer to the front doors, they could hear the sounds of a man shouting orders. The moment they stepped through, they were met with trigger-happy assholes. All of them managed to dodge the hail of bullets by diving to the ground.

Leona dove to the right behind one of the still standing pillars. Nora doe behind a fallen pillar, the dog ducking by her feet. The red-head tested her luck once or twice, and she caught the sight of three raiders all standing at the ready. Each of them with a rifle of some sort. One had an automatic, another some sort of rifle, and the last just carried a pistol. It was the most information she could glean before she had to dodge the spray of death that poured from their weapons.

She checked on Nora, who looked to her for a signal. Leona signaled for her to hold her position. She nodded in understanding, stroking the dog sitting tensely at her feet.

“Come out. We don’t bite.” A roar of raucous laughter marked Leona’s window to react. She motioned to Nora, swung around the pillar, and a blast of energy disfigured the wielder of automatic. The other two were too slow to react. Nora shot one and Leona the other. After a stolen glance at her partner, Leona felt a new appreciation for her. Maybe she had what it took to survive after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was essentially on an indefinite hiatus until I managed to get the inspiration to work on it, but now that I've gotten the inspiration to continue, here's the next chapter. Technically, this is chapter two, not three. ;)


	4. Minuteman Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Between duels with beasts and the aftermath, their next destination isn't as clear as it seems.

When they had finally made it to the civilians, Leona was in a sour mood. She couldn’t count on one hand how many bastards they were forced to gun down. The only good thing to come out of this place was a fusion core she nabbed from the caved in basement. She was glad that Nora was the one to speak. The man they had spoken to wore an outfit that looked like the old war crap on the mannequins littered throughout the building.

He introduced himself as Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen. Leona thought that the introduction was unnecessary seeing as they weren’t staying, but Nora shushed her. There was a defeated look about him like someone had kicked his dog, and she soon found out why. He told them about them running from their previous settlement after being betrayed and attacked by raiders. They thought Concord would be safe, but they saw how that happened.

“There are only five of us now,” he had told them. The old woman, called Mama Murphy, had the dazed look of someone who had taken too much jet. Sturgis had the build of a mechanic and a laid back attitude that was refreshing as opposed to grating. Marcy Long, on the other hand, made Leona want to tip her off of the balcony, but Preston assured her that it was just grief. Her husband Jun wore the same broken expression she’d seen on too many people.

Yet, out of all of it, it was Mama Murphy who told them about the mysterious dog. She called him a free spirit, traveling where he thought he was needed most. Dogmeat, as he was called, was meant to guide help their way. Though they were already on the way to Concord, Leona got the feeling that he had taken a liking to her partner.

“We were headed to a place called Sanctuary,” Preston explained, “Mama Murphy saw it in a vision.”

“You mean she saw it in a drug-induced haze when she was stoned out of her gourd,” Marcy corrected venomously, glowering at the old lady.

“Easy Marcy,” Sturgis said gently.

“I’m just saying that a lot of people got killed chasing her stupid ‘vision’.”

“Sanctuary? As in sanctuary hills? It’s real. I live…well, lived there. Before the bombs…” Nora interjected.

“Really?” Preston looked at her a though he had never seen someone more beautiful, “Is there any chance you could lead us there?”

Nora gave him the most dazzling smile Leona had ever seen cross her face. “Of course!” She looked to Leona as if for permission, “You okay with that?” Nora seemed to have taken note that the two of them had stuck together through this, so maybe they should continue. At least for the time being. So, Leona nodded. Just until she knew she could take care of herself.

The ruckus that had died since they had killed the raiders outside was suddenly in full swing again. Jeers and threats assaulted them through the windows. And damn if they didn’t have some original death threats. Preston cursed under his breath, but Leona was already peering out at them. Five jackasses packing serious firepower were walking up the street.

“If we could get that old power armor to work we could have taken care of the-“

“Power armor?” Leona was more interested in him now than she had been since she met the man.

“Yeah. An old set of t-45—probably from before the bombs—in a crashed pre war plane on the roof next to us.” Leona was already walking toward the balcony door when he said, “It’ll need a fusion core, and we don’t have one…of those…” Leona pulled the one she grabbed earlier out of her bag. “Yeah! One of those. Maybe…just maybe we’ll be able to get rid of that scum and get out of here.” 

Just as it had when the prospect of getting somewhere safe, his face was practically radiant. If he actually put off light, Leona would have squinted.

"Don't thank us yet."

 

By the time they were done with Concord, it had successfully chewed them up and spit them out. Nora sat on the floor next to the poorly maintained crib. She stroked a small, square book with a hollow expression. She recognized it too well for her liking. She'd seen it on the faces of Brotherhood initiates new to violence.

Not that the raiders managed to be much of a problem. Once she donned that suit of power armor and gatling gun, Nora easily cleaned up the ones she left behind. But the deathclaw...that took its toll. Leona had nearly gotten injured protecting Nora, who froze. She couldn't exactly blame her.

The memories of Leona's first deathclaw were faded. Buried behind the path of carnage she carved through the wasteland in search of her father. The only vivid parts of the memory that remained were the portions where she had to let the doc in Megaton sew her back up. 

She still remembered his face when she stumbled through his doorway. He didn't even bitch about the blood everywhere until he was done. Of course, Leona had helped him clean up, and by 'helped' she meant that she tried until the doc thought her too incompetent and did it himself. She was young enough and new enough to life in the wasteland that he didn't even charge her.

An act of charity, he had called it.

It wasn't charity that drove Leona to dive in front of the beast each time it took a swipe at the armorless woman. Dogmeat had managed to do his part, but Leona shooed him off after two 10mm bullets from Nora's gun only managed to piss off the scaly bastard. Instead, he spent the time helping Leona protect their hapless companion.

Leona didn't dare voice curiosity at whether or not her partner would be able to move on from this. If her story was to be believed, she wasn't exactly raised post-nuclear fallout. She knew plenty of pre-war ghouls, but Nora might as well have been sleeping through the past two-hundred years. No one could tell her what came next.

Yet, there lay a dilemma before her now. How was she going to teach this woman to protect herself?

"How..." Nora's voice was fragile.

"How what?"

"How can you stand it? All of this? The violence. The destruction."

Leona answered honestly, "I don't exactly enjoy any of it. None of us do...well, not those of us that are sane. You just learn to deal with it."

A knock on the door frame announced Preston. Not that it would have really been necessary, the walls were practically non-existent. Leona could see his worried expression before he stopped moving.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," he said with a comforting smile.

"It's just...a lot," Nora admitted. "One minute I'm drinking coffee with my husband and the next...the world has ended."

"It hasn't ended, ma'am. Not if I have anything to say about it." The way Preston puffed out his chest reminded Leona of a proud bird.

"And how do you presume to fix it?" She sounded bitter, the looks she received from Preston and Nora told her that.

"All the Commonwealth needs is for someone to do the right thing," He said resolutely.

"You're too idealistic."

"We're trying to do more than survive out here. We're trying-"

"-to make the world a better place. I get it. Too many good men have died trying to do the same thing, and they did it better. So don't spout your altruistic bullshit at me." The frown on his face was just short of affronted, and Leona felt as though she had kicked a puppy.

"Leona, that was a little harsh, don't you think?" Nora gave her a look that said, what's wrong with you, and Leona grimaced.

"The wasteland sucks the good out of people," she added.

"Only if you let it," Preston amended, "and despite what you're trying to tell me, you're a good person too. Maybe a little pessimistic and rude, but still good all the same." Leona spat out a derisive laugh.

"Sure, cowboy. Just make sure you keep that high horse nice and clean." She gave him a mocking smile before brushing past him and out of the room.

Outside, she pulled in a deep breath. Some of Preston's rambling brought back memories of Elder Lyons' speeches about helping people, and it formed a tight lump in Leona's throat. When she was younger, they had stuck with her. They're how she justified stupidity in the face of danger. By now, obviously, she had learned better. Not that she would have exactly left those citizens to die, she just didn't do it for the betterment of mankind.

She did it to halt the guilt she'd feel later for leaving them to rot. At least, that's what she told herself...

She finally managed to wrest herself out of deeper thought by the time she was joined by her two bodies. She glanced at Nora and did a double take. She had forgotten that she was as tall as most men and that practically made Leona feel like a dwarf in comparison. She grimaced at the way the vault suit hugged her slim form. Pretty and selfless were combinations Leona had learned to be wary of.

"You said Diamond City?" Her voice was silky and full of life again.

"Yes, ma'am! I'm sure Dogmeat can show you the way," Preston beamed at her, "Come back any time you get a chance."

"I planned on it," Nora agreed, "Besides...this place is all have left of my old life. And I'll be back with Shaun before you know it."

"With a mother like you, I have no doubts." Preston's flattery made Leona squirm uncomfortably. She wanted to call it disgusting, but it was heartwarming and sweet. They were the words she needed to hear.

Once he was done, he left them alone, and she could feel Nora's scrutiny.

"I'm headed to Diamond City. You can feel free to accompany me if you'd like." Her offer was so tempting that Leona almost turned her down, but then she remembered how she froze when faced with a deathclaw and hesitated.

"Never heard of it. Where is Diamond City?"

"It's near the heart of Boston, past the commons," Nora said matter-of-factly.

Unease crept into the pits of her stomach. Cities were more often than not crawling with super mutants. That's not even mentioning raiders, gunners, or ghouls. Running through ruins unprepared was a good way to get yourself killed. So, for now, whether Leona wanted to or not, Nora was stuck with her.

Only until she'd had more than a day to adjust, Leona told herself.


	5. A Guiding Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peaceful walk is never what it seems in the Commonwealth.

Though Nora wanted to set out right away, she was forced to concede to her friend's demands. Rest wasn't such a bad option, was it? In fact, Nora felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to her cranium. Waking up after a nuclear apocalypse will do that to you.

She wanted to lie down and sleep for a week. She might've too if Leona hadn't shaken her awake at the peak of dawn. Despite managing to salvage a mattress, Nora's arms were so sore that she felt like it might actually kill her if she had to hold anything. She was still in a daze when the red-head asked her a question she didn't hear. This earned her a stern glower.

"I said: do you know how to sew?" This was not the question she thought she had heard. Nora blinked in response.

"It doesn't matter. I can sew you a bag, so either be on the lookout for one we can patch up or for a tarp to turn into a new one." Her list of things to do rattled on, so Nora ambled to the rundown kitchen of her old home.

She needed to move to shake the drowsiness, and Leona was all but putting her to sleep. She considered asking if coffee still existed in the apocalypse, but she thought it might be pushing her luck. She also doubted that the sour-puss still railing off at a mile-a-minute would take too kindly to Nora's lack of interest. After another unanswered question, Leona paused to look at her expectantly.

"Look," Nora yawned, "I'm barely alive yet. Give me an hour before you start asking me questions."

"Seeing as we're setting out in an hour, I'd rather know now," Leona replied dryly.

"Yes, I can sew, but I haven't sewn by hand in years and I doubt there's an electric one running around anywhere. As for your other question...all of this has been a lot, so could you slow down just a little bit?" Nora tried to keep her agitation out of her voice. It melted almost entirely when the woman's viridian gaze softened.

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm used to being on the move." She turned from her, rummaging through a khaki green bag. She had seen the bag before when she first met Leona, and she hadn't thought to ask about it. It seemed worn yet in excellent care.

"Did you make that one yourself?" Nora nodded to the bag in question.

"Yeah," was her only answer. When Nora said nothing else she added, "Made it when I was nineteen. I've been adding pockets or repairing it as needed."

"Did your mother teach you how to sew?" The question seemed harmless enough, or at least Nora had thought so.

The woman's form visibly tensed as she paused what she was doing. Her reply was a short and clipped _no_. Nothing else. No explanation on how she learned. Just a taut, one-word answer.

"Oh," was all she could think to reply. She thought that might prompt her offer more information, but she continued raffling through her belongings.

"So," began her attempt at casual, "are you headed anywhere in particular? You mentioned being on the road a lot."

"Yeah, I did. Don't worry about me. Worry about your problems." At this, she was tossed a box of instamash and a can of cram. She caught both of them, grunting at the ache in her hands.

Leona was perceptive because she said, "That'll ease over time. As for those, if you can find a pan to sanitize, we can find a way to cook those."

"Where'd you find these? I used to eat these before the bombs fell." Nora blinked at the boxes. Though she wasn't particularly a fan of cram normally, InstaMash was about all she ate throughout her pregnancy.

"Probably because they're pre-war," Leona said, "Don't worry. They're perfectly safe to eat...for the most part. Eat too many without cooking them properly and you're facing radiation sickness. Just as a warning."

Nora set both down as though they were ready to explode. Despite her growling stomach, she suddenly didn't find them very appetizing. Leona must have sensed her distress because said, "I've eaten pre-war stuff since I was a kid. Trust me. It's that or we go hunting for radroach because I'm pretty sure that's all we'll find here."

Nora's nose wrinkled, "You eat those?"

"Not my first choice, trust me. But when you're hungry enough, you'll be surprised what you'd eat." She said it so matter-of-factly that Nora couldn't muster up the will to argue it. She wanted to doubt that she could ever eat a giant roach, but she had also never been starving before. Though with the way her stomach reacted, it was like she hadn't eaten anything in a hundred years.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't.

After insistence from Preston and Codsworth's promise that he could make her a whipped mash that would make her forget about the bombs, she finally agreed to try it. Despite her initial reservations, the meal managed to hit the spot. Leona insisted that they not stuff themselves.

It'll make it harder to get going, she had said.

Once Nora had started eating, however, she had to force herself to stop. She hadn't felt the need to eat since she stepped out of the vault, but her stomach must have finally caught up with her. She was practically ravening. The food even helped her feel lighter despite eating more than she meant to. The ache still persisted in her arms, but she could handle it.

She could handle anything.

 

When they were finally on their way, the sun lingered round - from what Nora remembered - the nine position. She checked the clock on her pip-boy. She had spent the better part of the evening before fiddling with it to figure out how to use it. She'd figured out most of the basics on her own, but Leona helped her with what she couldn't.

She had found it odd that her comrade had one similar to Nora's own. It looked a tad bit outdated, but apparently, it functioned just fine. Occasionally, Leona would check it, scroll through lists, and other such things. Nora chalked it up to fidgeting; she had learned not to ask questions. They wouldn't be answered and the divide between them would only get worse.

Dogmeat walked at their heels. He seemed fond of both women, but he stuck by Nora more frequently. She found herself grateful for it. Animals were smart enough to sense distress in humans, and as she looked around at the sparse trees and dull, dense greenery, she missed the bright colors of her own time.

One thing that Nora had recognized was the gladness that her boots were still intact. She glanced down at her vault suit and made a mental note to nab more from that vault when she could work up the courage to go down there again.

She twisted her wedding band nervously. She doubted she could face Nate so soon again. After she found him dead, she pulled his ring from his finger and refroze him to keep his body from decaying. And when she could face him again, she would honor him as he should have been before she left.

Thoughts of her husband took her back to her nights waking beside him. His gentle caresses and his honeyed purr asking for five more minutes. Her thoughts trailed to the contents of the holotape. She still hadn't listened to it. If she gave in, then she would have to accept that he was never coming back. And while she knew in her heart that she was alone, she wasn't quite ready to accept it yet.

The paved roads crumbled in some places, guard rails acting as twisted fences around particularly deep ditches. Rusted cars lay by the sides of the road or across at odd angles. They passed dilapidated houses with paint peeling from the siding. Businesses lie abandoned. This was about the sort of apocalypse Nora had expected. Still, the Boston she once knew lie in ruin.

She found herself recognizing the homes of people she once knew. Occasionally, she thought to peer through the window of a bakery she had once visited while pregnant with Shaun. Her reflection in the cloudy glass reflected the wistful sadness touching her features. As they walked on, she found herself getting the feeling they were being watched despite their trek into the ruins being entirely uneventful.

It was too quiet. Even for Nora who liked the sounds of peace the lack of noise was disconcerting, to say the least. She heard only the occasional wails of a dark bird, and her own footfalls were the only other thing that broke the silence other than the sound of Dogmeat's occasion panting. Her partner's steps were no more than a whisper, even as she walked beside her.

Leona stopped, bringing Nora to a halt as well. She scanned the area and slowly reached for the rifle strapped to her bag. The taller of the two took this as a sign to reach for her own pistol. She cocked it and Leona made a shushing sound. Nora mouthed sorry as they crept forward.

In the distance, Nora saw what looked like deformed bodies littering the street. She couldn't tell whether or not the body was decaying or whether they had gone through horrific mutation. To her side, Dogmeat began to growl and Leona shot it without hesitation. Nora looked between them wildly, trying to figure out how this poor sap could have possibly offended her.

"Move!" She ordered, her pace turning to a brisk jog. Nora heard the wet growls of something she didn't recognize.

From all sides, more of these deformed humanoids ambled toward them. Nora watched as one approached. When it hissed, she shot it out of reflex. It fell to the ground and its two friends charged her. Dogmeat charged one of them to the ground, ending its struggle with a sickening snap of its neck. Ker-chunk! The other dropped to the ground, missing a half of it's already deformed head.

"I said move!" Her authoritative command boomed through the destroyed city corner, and Nora wasn't compelled to argue. She sprinted after her companion, Dogmeat at her heels. From that point on, she shot and asked questions later.

"The Cambridge Police station is nearby, I think," Nora panted when they finally stopped moving, "oh god...I think I'm going to be sick. What were those things?"

"Ghouls."

" _What_?"

"They're humans who suffered prolonged exposure to increased amounts of radiation." Her explanation sounded too clinical for the moment, but it got the point across rather succinctly.

"That happens to-to _people_?"

"Yep."

"Is it contagious?" This is the first time she had ever heard the woman laugh in a way that didn't sound condescending.

"No," she replied to her confusion, "they may look like zombies, but otherwise, you only become a ghoul the same way those poor fuckers did. Radiation."

"Are they...you know...still there? Mentally."

" _They_ aren't, no. But, despite what others might tell you, there are some that go through the process but retain everything else. Other than physically, they're just as human as you or me." Nora's brain felt like it was wading its way through thick pudding.

"I'm so confused," she groaned.

"It's not uncommon for vault dwellers to be overwhelmed at first. Don't worry. You'll adjust," Leona promised, "Come on. I don't see anymore, but we can't stay here."

The more signs for the police station they saw, the more of those deformed monsters they found. They came from the most unlikely places. They crawled down walls, out of trash bins, and from under wrecked cars. With each one they killed, more replaced it. In the distance, she saw the roof of the station and sweet relief flooded her chest.

It was short lived.

Inside, a person clad in power armor that looked a good deal nicer than the set that the two women had found in the abandoned aircraft. He carried some sort of laser rifle, also a good deal nicer than the hand cranked one she picked up in Concord.

"Civilians?" The voice was male and distorted like it came through a speaker, "Get inside." His order carried the same weight as Leona's had.

Leona shot a particularly disfigured ghoul that had thought to take advantage of the armored man's turned back. "I think we'll be fine," Leona fired back.

The man paused to shoot another ghoul before saying, "If you want to help, keep your arms at the ready. More are coming."

"Paladin Danse!" A woman kneeled on the steps of the station with a wounded man in armor cradled in her arms.

"Scribe Haylen, get Knight Rhys inside," The man Nora presumed to be Paladin Danse ordered.

"But sir-" She was cut off by the same order and she conceded.

As they waited, Nora noticed Leona stand a few paces away from the Paladin, her back rigid with anticipation. She wanted to pass it off as the zombie simulator they had just stepped into, but the way she angled away from the man was too obvious to ignore.

She didn't have time to be lost in thought before long before they were greeted by another round of ghouls. She already missed the stiff mattress in Sanctuary Hills.


	6. Of Paladins and Abominations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some offers you just can't refuse.

Nora had never wanted a hot shower more in her life. Her suit clung to her sweaty back uncomfortably, blood caked her nails, and dust clung to her hair. She considered stripping off the suit and jumping into a nearby river, radiation be damned. Instead, she settled with rinsing her hands in an old sink with water that Haylen had been so nice to provide for her. Certain that she wouldn't smear the dirt worse, she rinsed her face.

Descending the steps with a frown her mind wandered back to the shower idea as she fiddled with a compact she had found lying in one of the offices upstairs.

"Any chance Diamond City will have showers?" Nora looked to Leona hopefully as she stepped back into the lobby.

She shrugged in response, her foot tapping to an impatient beat. Her eyes scanned the police station, from the splintering walls to the paladin speaking in hushed tones with his companions. Nora wasn't nosy enough to listen in on their conversation, so she let it go.

She glanced at her friend's arms crossed over a loose-fitting, filthy tank top. Nora forgot what her pants' original color was. They were military fatigues, so they may have been green once but now nearly black with all of the layers of caked blood. It would take an industrial washer to remove those stains.

She noted Leona's grimace was pulled deeper by the pale scar running down the side of her chin. Her displeasure was practically palpable, and Nora hardly blamed her. She had spent most of her time shielding Nora from the worst of it. For all the grime on the brunette, very little of it was actually blood.

"I'm going to change," She grunted, pointing to a back room on the far wall. Nora nodded understandingly. With a sharp tug, she threw her bag over her shoulder and trudged out of sight.

Nora stood there fussing with the compact she had been fiddling with previously. She ran her fingers through her matted curls in an attempt to fix them. By the time she appeared somewhat presentable, she heard the heavy gait that announced Paladin Danse's approach.

Nora looked up politely into a handsome face with a brooding brow, straight nose, and square jaw softened by groomed stubble. She was surprised by his somewhat youthful appearance. She had expected to meet a battle-hardened veteran the way he spoke. In some ways, he reminded her of Leona herself, just lacking the more obvious scars and generally bad attitude. Though he did share her intimidating demeanor.

"Was that your first time in combat?"

"I guess you could say that. Other than a dozen raiders and that monster, it's pretty much true," Nora sighed.

"You handled yourself well out there. You might just make a fine soldier-"

"Don't bother with the pitch," Leona snapped. Nora did a double take when she saw her.

She was clad in a worn vault suit, a leather pauldron and various other leather armor attachments strapped across her body. The form-fitting material hugged hips that weren't evident beneath the loose clothing before, and the look on her face was venomous. Nora glanced at Paladin Danse. He too wore a look of surprise. She could have sworn she saw him swallow before he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I understand." He regained his composure quickly enough.

"I meant what I said. Don't bother. We're not staying. Nora, let's go." Nora followed her, casting a hesitant look back at the Paladin. She saw his response brimming beneath the surface of his expression.

On her back, she spotted the number 101. Had she gotten that from a vault, or did she come out of one too? She often spoke like she understood what Nora was going through, so maybe she did.

By the time Nora had caught up to her at the door, he spoke again.

"Star Paladin Galloway, wait!" Leona's reaction was violent and quick. She flinched as though she had been struck and spun around on her heel to give him a dirty look that made the other two seated across the room cringe.

"Don't call me that." Her hair was burgundy fire as it framed her face, and the color rushing to her cheeks spoke to heat.

"Just hear me out," He pleaded, "We need help. We were sent to get a piece of tech-"

"Tech this, tech that. Maybe if you technology hoarding morons would get off of your asses to help people more often, you wouldn't be in so much goddamn trouble." The cruel twist in her words made Nora pull away from the conversation, her back against the wall in an attempt to make herself look smaller.

"I understand the things you might have seen when you were in the brotherhood, but we need someone like you. We're struggling. If people just had someone they could look up to then-"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I left the Brotherhood of Steel behind a long time ago. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have an infant to find." Her tone suggested finality, but that that wasn't what made Nora's eyes suddenly start to water.

"An infant! What are you-"

"My son," Nora interjected suddenly. She hadn't even thought of asking these people if they had seen anything. She explained everything she could remember about her son and the man who took him.

"I'm so sorry ma'am." Danse was professional but as tender as she had ever heard him. "The moment I'm back at headquarters, I'll see what I can do to find your son."

He went on to gush about how he was sure that the Elder would consider this matter of high importance. Nora, however, noted the hints of hesitation laced with regret on Leona's face. The way Leona spoke about the Brotherhood of Steel didn't sound as great as Danse made it seem. Star Paladin, he had called her. Nora wondered what sort of rank that was. Was it above paladin? It had to be, right?

Nora spoke before Leona got the chance, "I'm on the way to Diamond City to find the detective there, but thank you very much."

"And you?" Danse said hopefully to Leona. Leona looked hesitant but dangerous.

"Where are you stationed?" Danse took this as his cue, his face lighting up.

"The Elder is actually on his way here as we speak. There's a vertibird on the roof, we were going to go meet them after we procured-"

"Understood," Leona huffed.

"If you help us, we'll help you," Nora suggested. Danse surveyed her for a moment before agreeing.

Rhys made a dirty comment about civilians under his breath, but she let it go.

 

And boy did she come to regret that suggestion. By the time she had shot her twenty-fifth ghoul, she began to lose count. She came to dislike the sound of gunfire and the wet growl that so often accompanied the beasts. That was a more apt name for them than Nora had once assumed. They were described as feral by the Paladin on more than one occasion, and she had a deeper understanding now than she wanted to.

ArcJet Systems was your typical rusted factory. Gray and orange paint faded from what Nora knew was an attempt at making the curve cornered, L-shaped building more friendly. Danse told them that this factory was home to an important engine prototype developed before the great war. Nora was just glad that they had stopped running into ghouls shortly after leaving Cambridge. If she had to deal with another wandering herd, she might just call it quits.

Outside the factory was barren, but once inside, they came face to face with man-like metal skeletons.

"Synths," Danse said, shooting a dead on the ground a look of loathing.

Leona wore a look of brief recognition, "I don't remember Synths looking like this."

"They're gen ones. The other types of abominations are covered in a sheet of hard plastic. They still go down just as easy," He sneered.

Nora couldn't get the mocking robotic voice out of her head, and they were only found by more as they continued to kill their number. She was thankful for the lack of blood. Nora might have thrown in the towel right then if she had to scrub more blood off of her.

By the time they were done with that place, the two women were a little worse for wear. Nora was weary, and Leona was irritable. Danse carried the prototype on his back as they trudged their way back to the Cambridge Police Station. The trek itself was tense.

The paladin asked Leona constant questions, answered with unsatisfying quips. Each dodged question only seemed to worsen the redhead's mood, and Nora thought about suggesting that their temporary companion might need to give it a rest. Not that Nora wasn't curious because she most definitely was. Her friend's disdain for questions was what made her keep them to herself.

They were nearly mauled by Dogmeat when they returned. He ran around excitedly, hopping up to lick their faces. Leona was less accepting of the doggy kisses, but Nora was happy to let him. She scratched behind his ears, feeling comforted.

Danse continued the conversation Leona had dodged the entire trip back. "You're an inspiration. A war hero!"

"Not anymore," Leona hissed through clenched teeth, rounding on him. Nora could have sworn that Danse flinched under her gaze, so she went back to giving Dogmeat attention. She wasn't about to be in the middle of this one.

"But you are," he pressed, "just because you left doesn't make what you did any less-"

"I've told you once, and I'll tell you again: I'm not what you want me to be. A lot can change in ten years." Though still hardened around the edges, her voice softened.

"You don't belong out here. Admit it. You miss the Brotherhood." This earned him a glare full of contempt. "Just come with me. We can speak to the Elder together. He may even be willing to help your friend."

Leona cast a look at Nora who tried to look like she wasn't listening. She sighed before muttering, "I don't think I can."

"The Elder would welcome you back with open arms," Danse promised hopefully.

When Leona cast a torn look to Nora, she was quick to respond. "I'll be okay. I promise. I'll keep Dogmeat with me, and I'll go to Diamond city. I know how to shoot a gun, remember."

The woman's chest rose like she was taking in a deep breath, "Fine. Take me to this airship you keep talking about."

As she watched Leona board the vertibird, she wondered if she would ever see her again. The feeling that she had only agreed for Nora's sake hung heavy in the air. She hadn't known the woman for very long, but she still felt the weight of her decision to follow Danse. She gave Dogmeat one last pat on the head before she turned to face the ruins of downtown Boston.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My chapters aren't always so short, but this one is more of a transitional chapter. I might've done well with going into some detail about their trip to find the engine, but this chapter served as a turning point. So I wanted to keep it brief.


	7. Dogmeat and Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Splitting the party is generally not a good idea, but Nora makes the most of it.

The directions Scribe Haylen had given her matched up with the way Preston had pointed her, and other than the occasional ghoul, her path was relatively clear. That didn't mean that she wasn't careful. Without someone else to watch her back, she felt exposed. Dogmeat may have been by her side, but Leona had acted as a glorified bodyguard since they had met the day prior.  
  
She didn't exactly have time to worry about where her red-headed friend was going. She needed to find her son, and to do that, she needed to find Diamond City. The way things were going, she would be lucky to find it full of humans and not overrun by some sort of mutated monster.  
  
As she walked, she occasionally heard distant gunfire. She did her best to avoid those areas, and thankfully they didn't align with the path she walked. Dogmeat only occasionally wondered ahead, and when he did he managed to find useful things like food or a pharmacy with shattered windows.  
  
Not one to waste an opportunity, after a glance around, she slipped through the door frame to see if she could find anything useful. The place had already been sacked for the most part, but behind a few overturned shelves she managed to find a few gems. One, in particular, was a bottle of anti-radiation pills.  
  
Nora thought the bottle of rad-x was the height of irony. Yet, thinking back to what Leona had told her about most sources of water being highly irradiated, she thought it might be a good idea to hold onto them. She cast a look about to see if she could find a bag to carry anything else she might find.  
  
Her search proved difficult, but eventually, she found a fabric sack that resembled a sling. Still, it was deep enough that Nora could stash plenty of supplies in it until she got an upgrade. She continued to comb the shelves, stuffing multiple bottles of rad-x in the sack. When she found a first aid kit she thought it might have been a luckier day than she'd once thought.  
  
Inside were a few stimpaks, which was practically a necessity in every household, and a pack of mentats, which were huge when she was in college. Students would sit in big groups, pop a few of these, and study for exams. They didn't last long, so sneakier students would pop a few right before a big test. Granted, if they were caught, it was an automatic failure.  
  
Nora had always considered herself decently intelligent. She was rarely frazzled before she almost literally fell out of that cryo facility. She shook that thought from her mind. Of course, it was a lot to take in. Nuclear war nearly wiped Boston off the map! She could be a little confused for a while.  
  
She considered leaving the mentats, but she thought better.  
  
By the time she was done shuffling through the debris, her bag was filled with five stimpaks, two tins of mentats, three bottles of rad-x, and a vial of med-x. She was hoping she might find antibiotics, but even behind the prescription desk, there was nothing to be found. It was definitely a good haul, and what she didn't deem necessary, she'd trade. Easy enough!  
  
From that point on, Nora only paused long enough to eat a snack cake dogmeat had sniffed out in an old restaurant. The first bite was a cautious one, and she regarded the cake with narrow-eyed suspicion. Had she not eaten just this very thing not but, what felt like, days ago, she wouldn't have known that they were over two hundred years old. Not even stale. What kind of preservatives did they put in these?  
  
Nevermind that. She didn't really want to know. What she didn't eat, she wrapped up and put them in her bag. A few sips of purified water and she was off again.  
  
The sun was dipping below the destroyed buildings high above her before she saw a sign that said: this way to Diamond City. Her chest tightened against a rising feeling. She nearly squealed with delight, but she stopped herself.  
  
"Come on, Nora. You're thirty years old, not fifteen," She muttered to herself. She was so close to some possible answers. "Mommy's coming Shaun," was her last whispered message to herself before she jogged down the road.  
  
She found herself thinking that Fenway Park used to be around here somewhere when she saw arrows and diamonds painted on the wall ahead. Her jog became a full-on sprint until lights illuminated the break in buildings, driving off the ragged shadows cast by the setting sun. She looked up at the oval-shaped structure that seemed to go on for miles and her mouth hung agape.  
  
Though still big and green, it was barely how she remembered it. The tall, metal structures that once held spotlights were worn and falling apart. She caught sight of people wearing catcher uniforms and wielding bats. She stopped short, looking at the painted sign that said: Welcome to Diamond City.  
  
"The apocalypse turned my favorite ballpark into a town," Nora huffed to herself.  
  
"You lookin' for somethin', lady?" The catcher geared men had the same symbol strewn across the walls on the way there painted on their chests. The man who had spoken had a very distinct Bostonian accent and a confident strut.  
  
"I-I was looking for Diamond City, actually," She said tentatively.  
  
"You're lookin' at it. The Great Green Jewel, herself. Did you crawl out from under a rock, or somethin'?" Nora was crestfallen.  
  
"She's from one of those vaults, moron. Can't ya see the suit," Another snapped. "You can request entry at the gate, miss."  
  
"O-oh, thank you," she said, gratefully ambling her way toward the gate.  
  
It was closed, worn and green just as everything else was. The Fenway Park Nora knew always kept the gates open, but she suspected the spectacle going on outside to be part of the culprit.  
  
There stood a woman arguing with a speaker. She wore a page hat and tattered red, leather coat. Her hands were animated as she shouted, "I live here, Danny Sullivan. You can't just lock me out," and huffed a frustrated sigh.  
  
Nora didn't know what to say. Would she have to argue with the speaker too in order to get in? She doubted that whatever Diamond City's problem with this woman was would affect her too...she hoped.  
  
That's when the woman noticed her. "Hey, you," She whispered, "You want into Diamond City right?"  
  
"Y-yes, I do. Is something going-"  
  
She shushed her and said, "Just do me a favor and play along." She leaned back toward the speaker, a falsely impressed look on her face, "What was that? You said you're a trader up from Quincy? You have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for months? Huh..." She shot Nora a wink, who quirked a brow in response.  
  
"You hear that, Danny? You gonna open the gate and let us in? Or are you going to be the one talking to crazy Myrna about losing all this supply?" She motioned to Nora grandly, tossing a triumphant glance over her shoulder at the speaker.  
  
A sigh rattled through the box and the agitated voice said, "Geez, all right. No need to make it personal, Piper. Give me a minute." A few seconds later clinking sounds rattled through the door as it began to lift, swinging haphazardly.  
  
"Piper, I presume?" Nora gave her hesitant smile.  
  
"The one and only. We'd better head on inside before he catches the bluff." She cast a glanced at her sack, "Though from the looks of it, it might not have been as much of a bluff as I thought, huh?"  
  
Once the gate had lifted, a sense of nostalgia washed over her. She remembered stepping through the grate topped frames to stand in line for tickets. Hand-in-hand with Nate. She had hoped to bring Shaun here when he was old enough to appreciate it. Though, inside, what was once well lit and lean, was dim and littered with debris. The metal beams were chipped and rusting, and some of the stone was cracked.  
  
Inside also stood a very cross looking man. Dogmeat made a low sound in his chest, but Nora patted his head and he quit. The man looked neat enough, wearing a brown suit and trilby hat. His mustache looked dangerously close to thinning as he glowered at the woman she walked in with.  
  
The two half-shouted at each other until Piper turned to Nora for input, "What about you? Do you support the news? Because the mayor's threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster."  
  
The last time Nora had listened to the news, she and her family had just enough warning to make it into the vault. It was pretty safe to say that without it, she might not still be alive and standing there.  
  
"Freedom of the press has always been important," Nora agreed.  
  
"Oh, no, no, no. I didn't mean to involve you in this, miss," The man said silkily, "No, you, you look like Diamond City material. Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. Safe. Happy. A fine place to spend your money and settle down." Nora thought that he sounded like he was trying to convince himself instead of her. "Don't let this muckraker here tell you otherwise, all right?"  
  
"I'll admit, this hasn't been the friendliest welcome," Nora said evenly. Though it had been far from the most unfriendly, she'd keep that particular thought to herself.  
  
"She's got you there, McDonough. Guess not everyone is won over by idealistic pitches into a shark tank." Piper motioned in a very animated way, as though she had won a great victory.  
  
McDonough made a dismissive sound, "Now, is there anything in particular that you've come here for?"  
  
"Yes! Oh, please," She gasped. He and Piper both were startled, "I'm looking for someone. A baby. My baby. Shaun. Someone took him from me." Nora had to stop when her voice cracked and her throat constricted. She clutched at her chest to soothe the hollow ache that had rooted itself there.  
  
"Your baby?" The genuine concern on Piper's face was like a cold bucket of relief, "You hear that McDonough," She sneered, "Is Diamond City security going to sit around while a poor mother searches the Commonwealth alone?"  
  
The mayor gave her a very disgruntled look before fixing his face into a mask of compassion, "I assure you, Diamond City has plenty to offer you in the form of aid."  
  
"Don't listen to that trumped up jackass," Piper said, strolling over to her and beginning to steer her toward the entry, "There's only one guy you need to see." Dogmeat trotted by Nora's side as the two women walked through the entrance of the stadium.  
  
For a moment, Nora was floored. She didn't know what she expected, but it most certainly wasn't what she saw. Rings of salvaged metal buildings wound around the stadium in long, concentric circles, each connected to the center. In the center, there appeared to be some sort of bar attached to a tall, tower-like hub. Neon signs flashed, though she couldn't read them from here, and corrugated metal scattered the walkway.  
  
When she came back to her senses, she heard Piper say, "Nick Valentine. That's your guy. Nicky specializes in finding people. I'm sure with his help, you'll be able to find your son, no problem." She kept pace next to her as they walked down the steps toward the heart of the stadium.  
  
After promising an exclusive interview after she had spoken to the detective, Piper pointed her the way. As she wandered, she found herself a bit lost. The city was just as much a labyrinth as the decimated downtown area. Thankfully she managed to catch a sympathetic security officer who was nice enough to point her the way. After a word of thanks, he must have noticed her bag of supplies, and he was also nice enough to point her to the general store.  
  
While she kept it in mind for later, Valentine was her priority. Down an alley and hang a right, he had told her. And she found it easily enough. It was the last door before meeting a dead end at a chain-link fence. A red neon sign read: Valentine Detective Agency. Beside it, a neon heart with an arrow through it glowed brightly. This was clearly the place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to break away from game dialogue a bit, so some things might sound familiar, and some definitely won't. That's why I even rewrote the first chapter.
> 
> The next chapter will be a highly anticipated chapter for me tbh. I've been wanting to write it since I first started planning this story. (I'm honestly surprised it's not already written.)


	8. War Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In their eyes, she's a war hero. In her eyes, she was just in the right place at the right time.

Leona gazed at the vertibird with a stony expression. She never guessed that she might willingly board one again. Not in her lifetime. She heard Paladin Danse approach from behind and didn't spare him a glance.

"Beautiful isn't it," He said, mistaking her silence for awe, "This model was refurbished after the battle with the Enclave. I heard that Sarah Lyons, herself-"

"Let's just go." The sound of her name drudged out a grainy memory of a smiling face. Blue eyes twinkling as congratulations fell from her lips. The embrace that nearly tipped the bird. The celebratory toast. The sight of her back as she walked away.

She took a seat next to the window. From there she could see another familiar form retreating. She could just make out the 111 on her back as Nora and Dogmeat trotted off into the Boston ruins. Unease crept into her chest unbidden, but the nails digging into her palm were enough to distract her from it.

"Alright, I just spoke to the pilot, we'll be on our way momentarily," Danse called out over the starting engine. Leona said nothing in response, offering only a nod. They were jarred by the lift from the ground, and she held onto a bar beside her head for support.

Her hair whipped around her as they lifted upward. Soon, she could almost see the entirety of Boston from here. What she was sure was once full of color was a dull, industrial nightmare. The ruined spires that stuck out of the earth were still largely intact, but the highways that ran across the landscape had entire collapsed stretches that lie sprawled across the ground beneath.

Many of the taller buildings were missing entire sections. They had the appearance of having been bitten by something large. One building, in particular, had a gigantic pirate ship straight out of a storybook stuck through it. This might have amused her when she was fresh out of the vault, but it struck a nerve of apprehension now. She might have even been tempted to ask about it had she not been determined to hold her silence for the moment.

That moment was short-lived when Danse spoke again, "Elder Maxson is looking forward to your arrival."

The name sparked memories of a squire whose helmet barely fit him properly. The last time she had spoken to him, he had practically begged her to regale him with her victory at Raven Rock. To hear his name now, given the title of elder of all things, meant he had succeeded her. She clutched at her dog tags, forgetting that she had tucked them into her vault suit.

Nails bit into the palms of her hands and allowed her to take a breath. With a hand, she grabbed the bar to ground her against the slope looming below her. The sound of Danse rambling on in the background pulled her further from the cliff. And once she regained more of herself, she focused on the landscape.

Beneath them wasn't an area she recognized. Granted, she had gotten to the Commonwealth on foot, so she hadn't seen it from the air before. No, they weren't in the Commonwealth anymore. If her pip-boy was to be believed, they were headed back to the hellhole she had just escaped from.

"How far?"

"Let me ask the pilot." The same clunking noise that announced his departure announced his arrival, "Apparently they're several hours out. I knew we'd catch them, but not this soon."

By the time Leona had the urge to jump from the vertibird, the pilot came over the coms and told them that they would be intersecting the Prydwen momentarily.

Leona gave Danse a raised brow, but he only replied, "You'll see it."

And see it she did. The airship was a gargantuan marvel. She was sure that it took them years of scavenging to pull something so magnificent off. The base shape reminded her of a bullet. Branching off of the main hull was an overhang that cast a shadow on the decks hanging beneath it. The tip appeared to be a long, round-edged deck which likely belonged to the Elder. She wondered how many people had either fallen off on accident or had been pitched over on purpose.

Pulled from that morbid thought, the vertibird began to descend toward the underbelly of the ship. Docking was smoother than expected, and within five minutes she was being ushered from the ship. Danse led the way across the deck, and Leona followed behind as confidently as she dared this high in the air.

She received a few odd looks from the passersby. Some ignored her entirely afterward, but there were some who chipped at her nerves, staring as she passed. Some whispered and she was tempted to shout find a new hobby. Once inside the hangar, which was a ladder climb away, she found the same dissonant whispers that frustrated her before.

A few of the more dignified members saluted them as they passed. She averted her eyes afterward.

They stopped short of an iron door. Paladin Danse practically looked like an excited school child. Not outwardly, but the twinkle of pride in his eyes made her feel like a shiny trophy to be earned. It put a sour taste in her mouth.

He knocked on the door, and a not-so-unpleasant voice said, "Enter."

"Paladin Danse of Recon Squad Gladius," he said, hailing them with a salute.

"Ah, yes, I heard word of your arrival. And our guest?" Danse stepped aside to reveal a long, curved room with a rail that blocked access to the window scooping down behind it.

There the owner of the voice stood, his arms behind his back and eyes surveying her as she stepped across the threshold. The man facing her wasn't the child she had expected. He was broad shouldered and intimidating, his brow set heavy over a pair of intense eyes. A ragged scar dug a groove across the plane of his cheek. His trimmed beard and meticulously styled hair were worlds away from the soft-faced, curious kid she had once known.

"I'm sure that this must come as a surprise to you," he said evenly. His continued stance was likely meant to impress, but she was far from interested.

"I never doubted your ascension to Elder," Leona retorted dryly, "Only that it would be so soon. How long did it take before the wolves descended?"

"I accepted this post with pride," He corrected softly, "and I was fifteen."

Leona made a disgusted sound, " _Fifteen_? You were still a child."

He moved from his position over to a small table with a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. "It was a difficult decision that needed to be made. We were leaderless. Besides," He gave her a probing look, "You weren't much older when you became a war hero."

"I was never a war hero." The word _hero_ lingered on her tongue bitterly. Maxson turned from her, stroking the bottle of amber liquid in momentary silence.

"You underestimate the impact you had on so many." A melancholy note hung on his words. "If not for you, the Capital Wasteland wouldn't have clean drinking water."

"That wasn't-"

"If not for you, innocent lives would have been lost to the Enclave's tyranny."

"That-"

"And if not for you, the Brotherhood of Steel would not have won the day alongside Liberty Prime." Each statement was louder than the last until he drowned out her protests entirely. When he was done, he poured a shot, tossed it back, and faced her.

"So what was it that made you decide to return?" It was a question she had expected.

Leona strolled across the room and peer out of the glass at the earth below. She took the moment to think about her answer, and Maxson seemed to give her that much. Could she admit that she found truth in Danse's words? She had missed being a part of something, and maybe the Brotherhood had changed enough under differing leadership to wash away the memories of what it had once been.

Yet something sat on her chest uncomfortably. Leona wasn't swayed by the need to be given orders. In fact, she'd spent most of her life ignoring them. It wasn't only she who needed something. Fighting and protecting the poor woman who finally managed to convince her that she wasn't hopped on chems had been the only thing on her mind for the past two days.

For five years she had acted and reacted, not really thinking through what she might do were she to stop and take in what her life had become. Running. Never still except for the scarce few hours she slept comfortably. Ensuring demons nor comfort caught up with her. She was presented with a chance. She was a smooth talker once. A few words and the elder would be putty in her hands. Yet, her inclination wasn't toward her own goal.

"My...friend." Leona had struggled to find the right word that fit what she and this woman were. Acquaintances though they were, you didn't watch each other's backs forget it.

"Go on," the elder prompted.

"Her son was taken from her. An infant." The explanation fell clumsily from her lips, but by the time she had finished, Maxson's expression was one of solemn understanding.

"I see," he said briskly, "The Commonwealth is worse off than I feared." The hair on the back of her neck prickled with unease.

"What do you mean?" She gripped the rail in anticipation.

He joined her, standing next to her and staring out the same window she did, "First the bombs nearly destroy the human race. Then the Enclave's FEV virus starts a plague of super mutants that threatens to destroy us again. Now _children_ are being abducted from their parents. Time and time again, man has proven that they cannot be trusted with their own future."

Leona cast him a sideways look of icy apprehension, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me ask you another question." Leona drew her mouth into a thin line as she waited for him to continue. "What is your opinion on ghouls and super mutants?" After a narrow-eyed look of brief confusion, she decided to answer truthfully.

"Considering I've only met one super mutant that didn't try to kill me on sight, I'd say they're a general menace to society." One look from Maxson told her that he hadn't appreciated the sarcasm. "As for ghouls...If you want me to tell you that I think they're abominations-" she shot a look at Danse to remind him that she knew he was still there, "-I won't. Ferals are another story. They've gone past the point of no return. The others are just as human as you or me."

There was a long pause only broken by the subtle purr of the Prydwen. The silence seemed to stretch for hours, but mere moments had passed before he spoke again.

"What about synths?" Dread sunk into her core.

"What about them," she replied.

"No opinion?"

"They exist. What does it matter?"

"What does it matter?" Heat flushed his cheeks and he rose to his full height. "The group of bastards that call themselves the Institute has sequestered themselves so that they can create those things. Once again, they are experimenting with something that could prove to be humanity's undoing a second time."

In his rant, he compared them to the atom bomb, something Leona found laughable. But the more amused she seemed, the more impassioned he seemed to grow. His hands made quick, jerking movements as he motioned to the world outside the window. He seemed to think that Leona would suddenly begin to agree with him the more she saw what America had become.

"A machine being granted free-will...it's obscene!" Her thoughts shifted to the escaped android she had helped in Rivet City, and her jaw tensed. When she thought about he scared, how hopeless he was fleeing for his life from the group that saw him as nothing but a piece of machinery. Her grip on the railing turned her knuckles white.

"That's why you're going to the Commonwealth," she scoffed, "because of some idiotic quest to rid humanity of a self-imagined plague?"

"Self-imagined? _Self. Imagined_ ," He sneered, "these experiments have the potential to drive the human race to extinction."

"So did the bombs, yet here we are." She punctuated her statement by angrily motioning to everything around them.

"Soldier, think about who you're speaking to," Danse interjected. Leona shot him a glare that made him blanch.

"We will be saving mankind from themselves, whether you're here or not, soldier. You can either help us, _without_ complaint, or you can leave. Your choice." His hands rested behind his back, his shoulders straightened in confident repose.

"The Brotherhood is supposed to protect the people-"

"The idealistic ravings of a man unfit to lead. I have the western elders on my side, what do you have?" Leona's nostrils flared, and she stormed toward the door.

"I'm leaving," she barked at Danse.

"Hold on a moment-" he called out after her, but even as he followed her, his arguments fell on deaf ears. The heavy clunking sound of his power armor only served to widen her gait. He finally managed to grab her arm and she spun around to face him, a dangerous warning in her glare.

"For someone fond of his arm, you sure have a shitty way of showing it," she growled.

He recoiled, but his cheeks flushed, "You can't just disrespect Elder Maxson and expect to leave untouched."

"Let her go, Paladin." A collective gasp rang out as scribes and aircrew scrambled back about their business.

Paladin Danse's mouth hung open as if to argue, but ultimately he said, "Yes sir."

Leona locked eyes with the elder. His expression was a stern mask as he said, "This does not mean that our business here is done, Star Paladin Galloway. It will be settled once you've finally come to your senses."

"Not likely," She muttered.

**Author's Note:**

> The passage of time seems really odd. Just in case anyone is confused, almost ten years have passed since the Project Purity incident. She spent five in the Wasteland afterward and wandered around for nearly five after that. Ten years will have passed by the time she reaches her destination. Either way, thank you for reading this! 
> 
> I've been thinking about writing a Fallout fanfiction since I started the games. I've seen a lot of Sole Survivor fics, but I wanted to do something a little different, you know? Prepare for a fanfiction full of powerful women and trigger happy goons!


End file.
